Jerrell Mobley

Professor Malcom Campbell

English 1103
11/26/2016
Is Hollywood Racist?
I can remember watching on T.V. the show Friends. As a child it never dawned on me
that the show starred six main characters who all so happened to be white and living in one of the
most diverse cities in America, NYC. On top of it all only a few people of different racial
backgrounds made an appearance on the show; other than that diversity was scarce. Not just
Friends but a multitude of other shows as well as movies are mainly dominated by white actors
and actresses, this includes producers, directors, etc. Hollywood is still dominated by white
people till this day with change slowly occurring.
Since the beginning of filmography, the main characters have seemed to have a running
trend, that is always being white masculine males. Filmography got it start in the early 1890s
during a time where racism plagued western culture. This played a major factor in casting as well
as perception of races other than white. When films first began and needed someone of color for
certain roles, many films in instead of casting minorities for those roles went with the lather in
some cases using black, red or yellow face of white actors. The terms black face, yellow face or
any other type is when a white actor or actress paints their face to look like another race as well
as acting out certain stereotypes of that race. One example of this was the movie Othello (1965)
based off a Shakespeare play, where the lead actor used blackface for there character. Rob
Nixon from TMC wrote Olivier piled on a deep blackface, donned a kinky-haired wig,

smeared his lips thickly with a dark raspberry red, and worked on a gait and bearing he felt

would be more African. (Nixon). This was not an unusual practice for this time period, now in
todays time other methods like white-washing is used. White-washing in Hollywood is making
ethnic characters more appealing to white audiences by changing the race or socio-background
of the character Amanda Scherker for Huffington Post said Hollywoods mainstream starring
roles have long been monopolized by white actors; even though its meant whitewashing history.
What may surprise you is how frequently this still happens today. (Scherker). A recent example
comes from the movie Aloha (2015); Emma Stone played Allison Ng an Air Force pilot whose
father was half-Hawaiian and half-Chinese and whose mother was Swedish. The producers
blatantly disregarded this crucial detail, giving the role to a woman with pale skin and blond hair.
Many Hawaiian Americans in particular were disappointed by the casting choice, some feeling it
downplays their culture and tradition. This warranted the producer Crowe and Stone to issue an
apology to its viewers. As you have been reading in this paragraph many films that deal with
history are white washed, but a certain category of film that people disregard in terms of race are
movies that are centered in Northern Africa and Southeast Asia for instance Egyptian and biblical
movies. Both white men and women are casted to play Egyptian pharaohs, biblical figures, and
other smaller roles. In recent years these films have come under fire for their misrepresentation
of these historic characters in the film. Erika W. Smith, a writer for Screen Rant, wrote about the
film Gods of Egypt The film faced major backlash for ethnically inaccurate casting (Smith).
Gods of Egypt main cast consisted of mainly white actors; the movie had having little people of
color. Smith also mentioned recent biblical movies like Noah and Exodus: Gods and Kings, for
having a predominately white cast. This cycle of wrongful casting has been done for many years
so, why does Hollywood still continue to cast inaccurately?
Hollywood has a stigma that white actors tend to attract a larger audience as they have

more of an appeal. Andrew Weaver, assistant professor of telecommunications in IU's College of

Arts and Sciences, said Hollywoods sort of given up on the idea that you can have crossover
success with a minority cast. You get this discrimination in the casting of roles, where theyre
going to cast whites if at all possible to maximize the audience. (Weaver). Hollywood feeds its
fans and viewers what has been working for years not deviating when it comes to race. Even
though in recent years Hollywood has been receiving backlash for this. Weaver believes that
white viewers do not feel uncomfortable, just that whites do not see themselves as the intended
audience for movies that cast minorities as leading roles. In that case major roles are given to
white actors and actresses to attract a larger demographic and in that turn create more revenue for
movie. Christina Hoag, a freelance journalist in LA, stated 13% of main roles are given to
minorities. (Hoag); even though minorities makeup about 40%of the United States. By 2050
minorities are on pace to makeup more than half of the United States population. So when
Andrew Weaver says attracting a bigger audience why should that hinder the roles given to
minorities?
As seen through time many roles that are for minorities are based on a stereotype.
Victoria McNally, a blogger for Buzz feed, wrote an article The Most Racially Stereotyped
Characters on TV Right Now one example from the article, comes from the hit show Two Broke
Girls Han is an Asian character who has broken English and portrayed as out of touch.
(McNally). That is just some Asian stereotypes. We have become accustomed to certain
stereotypes to where we expect a certain character to be a certain way; the loud black lady, the
asexual Asian male, the ditzy blonde, etc.... Hollywood seems to lean on stereotyping because it
is a system that has worked for many years. These stereotypes would still be here even without
television but television helps perpetuate and reinforce stereotypes. Robert and Linda Licther

from Center for Media Literacy wrote This role of television as a reinforcer and crystallizer of
existing attitudes is significant, even if few people actually form their opinions of cultures or
races based on what they see on TV. If the audience views certain ethnic and racial groups in a
negative manner and television portrayals confirm those images, Then TV entertainment may be
reassuring those people that their images of certain ethnic and racial groups as foolish, lower
class, inarticulate, or criminal are correct. (Lichter) That being said it makes it harder to see
someone other than white as a role. A main character is usually your hero, fearless, courageous.
To see a minority as the lead makes it harder to believe because when seeing someone skin color
most people automatically group them in certain categories and to see them with traits usually
given to white leads becomes rare. So what are people doing to change perception and create
more roles for minorities?
Aziz Ansari, an Indian actor and producer wrote an article for the New York Times Aziz
Ansari on Acting, Race and Hollywood he wrote about Asian men being asexualized in media
not being portrayed as having feelings; Ansari saw how important change was needed. How
many times have you seen an Asian guy kiss someone in TV or film? After a long hard think,
we came up with two (Steven Yuen on The Walking Dead and Daniel Dae Kim on Lost). It
made me realize how important it was not to give up on our search. (Ansari) Though not a big
of deal as other issues like: Asian women and prostitution, or being Kung Fu fighters, and being
foreigners with broken English. These issues all relate to a bigger issue about how we view other
races. Ansari is breaking the norm when it comes to the discussion of Asian Americans on
television. He being one of the first Asians to win an Emmy for his show Masters of None. As
Americans or just humans what we perceive becomes what we believe. Seeing these stereotypes
manifest in other people or cultures on T.V. makes us believe its real life. That being said certain

roles that break stereotypes seem to become taboo to minorities.

Shonda Rhimes, a black female showrunner who has broken barriers when it comes to
the discussion of race relations in America. On each of Rhimes three shows she has a very
diverse set of characters with different backgrounds. Britt Julious, blogger from the Guardian
wrote . Longer running shows, like Shonda Rhimes Scandal and Greys Anatomy
demonstrate a willingness from audiences to continue watching diverse shows. (Julious).. Many
people no matter the race have come to love her work, she has even gotten her own segment on
ABC called TGIT. Her shows tackle issues like race, sexuality, religion while still working in the
plot. From Rhimes hit show How to Get Away with Murder, leading lady Viola Davis has won
an Emmy award for best actress as her performance as a powerful black female lawyer,
becoming the first black female to win such award. Even though she won she still received racial
backlash from fans who were not to happy for her win or even her speech, where she talks about
being discriminated as a woman of color in the Hollywood industry. For example, Soap star
Nancy Lee Grahn on General Hospital said on twitter wrote, I think she is the bees knees but
shes elite of performers. Brilliant as she is. She has never been discriminated against.(Grahn).
This quote the lack of knowledge of some people who have never truly seen what discrimination
looks like or know the struggle faced by other racial groups.
In early 2016, the Oscars sparked controversy for the second year in a row. Every actor
and actress nominated for leading and supporting roles were all white. This prompted the hashtag
#OscarsSoWhite to begin trending, as well as the host Chris Rock to change his opening
dialogue in regards of the recent events. Rock made jokes of the whole situation while still
getting his point across about needing more diversity in Hollywood. Many stars and fans took to
social media with this hashtag and have commented on it Adam Howard, a writer for MSNBC

wrote ,Straight Outta Compton producers Will Packer and Ice Cube have criticized the
awards for largely shutting out their hit NWA film.(Howard).. Jada Pinkett Smith even called
for a complete boycott of the Oscars as her husband, Will Smith, and others were not even
considered for any awards. This also includes directors. Even though change is occurring for the
better their are still set backs. Looking at black Oscar winners and what type of roles that won
them the award, THR staffers for The Hollywood Reporter wrote It's most often for roles that
paint stereotypical (or painful) portraits of African-Americans: kingpins, addicts, slaves and
maids. (THR) If you look back at most Oscar wins by a black actor or actress they more or less
are perpetuating a stereotype. This as well goes for other races as well. But, maybe these
stereotypes will help people connect with each other, but how?
Jody M. Huckaby for App, wrote Stereotypical characters, when written well and
portrayed lovingly, can be a good introduction into learning about categories of people. But they
should be only that: an introduction, a first step toward eventually learning more about people as
individuals beyond the group label, each one unique and different. (Huckaby) She is saying that
stereotypes can be a good way to learn about people, it can set a gateway to learning new things
of a different group. Stereotypes are a way to get minorities into the Hollywood industry and can
teach the audience about one another. We can see other peoples walks of life and begin to relate.
But thats only when its meant for a gateway. When a minority gets a stereotyped role the
character usually is not expanded, we the audience only see that character as its stereotype and
makes it easier to label people in the real world. So seeing Han in Two Broke Girls as just an
Asian with bad English does not become a shock, most people have become desensitized to it
now. But, in a new age minorities want roles that does not involve being just that stereotype and
people behind the scenes are making that change happen.

Minority producers, directors, and production companies are creating some

opportunities for minority actors and actresses with involvement in media productions. Even
though production is not main stream and broadcasted to millions its a starting point for change
and another way to make it into Hollywood. An example, Steven J. Kung is an Asian-American
filmmaker his films tackle racial stereotypes that are faced by Asian actors in television and in
movies. Dana Ter, a writer for Arts.Mic wrote about one of Steven Kung films Leading Man TV
sitcom, the protagonist Guoqiao ("GQ") wrestles with a problem that almost every AsianAmerican actor has faced: how to advance your career without having to perpetuate a racist
stereotype on screen.(Ter). This film tackles one of the biggest issues, of minorities only being
casted as certain characters. The network BET or as it is known as Black Entertainment
Television, became dedicated to making more opportunities for black actors, writers, producers,
and directors. Creating black centric shows like The Game, Being Mary Jane, and also showing
reruns from other black television shows, gives black audiences something they can relate to
more. BET also makes its own television movies that are directed, produced and written by black
people. Not to mention BET has their own awards shows for gospel, hip-hop, and acting. Bigger
networks like ABC are truly making a change for becoming a more diverse station. I mentioned
before about Shonda Rhimes and her shows, but there are others like Black-ish, Fresh off the
Boat, The Real ONeals, and Dr. Ken. These shows stars different type of minorities that are not
just defined by certain stereotypes but shows stable families of minorities and are building blocks
for other stations to follow suit. Television can bring people of different cultures together and
thats what we should be working for.

Race relations in America today are very contentious and a sore topic to discuss. With the

presidential election and social injustice between the cops and African Americans, The BLM
movement and Trump promising to build a wall, and temporary band of Muslim Americans.
Now the stereotypes we are seeing on television reinforces certain beliefs more than ever,
causing more hate in this country. Hollywood is a way we can bring people together. Many
Americans watch and get their information about other cultures, religions, and racial groups from
television. So why not show more positive images and give minorities more leading roles instead
of the ones we have become accustomed to seeing for so many decades. By 2050 America is on
pace to be almost split down the middle between the number of whites and people of color. Kids
of color should be exposed to someone on television who looks like them and is a positive rolemodel. To show people more than just one side of a culture and not just all the bad side that is
associated with a particular group, can begin to make people feel that they are truly equal to one
another and progress the state of our country for the better.

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